Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has recommended shareholders of Google-parent Alphabet Inc to vote “against” the company’s proposed executive pay at its annual meet in June, according to a report seen by Reuters on Thursday. “The compensation committee has demonstrated poor stewardship of pay programs as evidenced by recurring concerns of outsized awards that are not…
Category: proxy advisory firms
Supplemental Comments on SEC Proposed Rules: Proxy Advisors and Shareholder Proposals
ValueEdge Advisors has submitted two more supplemental comments on the SEC’s proposed rules on proxy advisory firms and shareholder proposals. We are grateful to James McRitchie for giving us permission to include his excellent research on the support for governance-related shareholder proposals. The full text of both comments are linked below. SEC supplemental comment on…
A Proposal Based on The Wrong Assumptions: “Stop, Look and Listen” for Proxy Advisors
The lawyers from law and lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggs overlook three key points with their self-categorized “modest proposal” on the SEC’s proxy advisory rule. Their proposal is based a completely faulty characterization of the law, the facts, and the obvious and most effective policy. Oh, and they also forget to mention that their client…
ISS: 2020 Climate Policy Proxy Voting Guidelines
ISS has released its new climate policy recommendations for voting proxies. The full text is below. An excerpt: Sustainability Reporting The concept of sustainability is commonly understood as meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Indeed, the term sustainability is complex and poses…
VEA’s Second Supplemental Comment to the SEC on Proposed Proxy Advisor Rule
A second supplemental comment, reflecting new information and responses to some of the other comments: 1. Further Evidence that Corporate Claims of Zombie “Robo-Voting” are Bunk: We have noted previously that assertions that fund managers “robo-vote” are unsupported and contrary to the data. The findings of a new study by Lily Tomson of ShareAction prove…
Further Evidence that Corporate Claims of Zombie “Robo-Voting” are Bunk
The findings of a new study by Lily Tomson of ShareAction prove that the claims of the Chamber of Commerce and its various sock puppets are complete bunk. Finding 1: ISS, the largest proxy advisor, is more supportive of environmental and social resolutions than the largest asset managers. The majority of asset managers in our…
SEC’s New Rules Undermine Shareholder Rights – Bloomberg
Yale’s Jonathan Macey on the SEC’s proposed rule on proxy advisors: It is indeed strange that the SEC, whose mission is to protect investors, is putting its thumb forcefully on the scale in favor of companies and against investors. Its proposal would land a one-two punch against corporate democracy and freedom of speech. Not only…
SEC Comment Word Cloud
Columbia Law School’s Blue Sky Blog has mapped the comments on the SEC’s proposed rules on proxy advisors. This post offers a helpful tool, in the form of a computational textual analysis of the submitted comments to the proposed rule change. While by no means a substitute for deeper analysis, this type of computational analysis…
Senators Tell the SEC to Withdraw the Proposed Proxy Rules
Senators Richard Durbin, Sherrod Brown, Brian Schatz, and Jack Reed have written to SEC Chairman Jay Clayton to object to the proposed rules on proxy advisors and proxy proposals in the strongest terms. The full letter is below. An excerpt: The SEC fails to make a credible argument that errors in proxy advisor reports justify…
Center for Political Accountability on the SEC’s Proposed Rules on Proxy Proposals and Advisors
Behind the Chamber’s Attack on the Proxy Process, Fear of Disclosure – and CPA Founder’s Column By Bruce Freed Why is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce still running from sunlight? What are the Chamber and many of its members trying to hide? Just consider: –The Chamber receives dues from members it represents and “has spent…
